Combray

Commune in Normandy, France

Location of Combray

(2020–2026) Roger Havas^[1]Area

4.51 km² (1.74 sq mi)Population

(2021)^[2]

144 • Density32/km² (83/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal code

14171 /14220

Elevation88–230 m (289–755 ft)
(avg. 187 m or 614 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Combray (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃bʁɛ] ^ⓘ) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in north-western France.^[3] The commune is part of the area known as Suisse Normande.^[4]

Combray is also an imagined village in Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time), a book which was strongly inspired by the village of his childhood, Illiers, which has now been renamed Illiers-Combray in his honor. Combray is the title of the first part of the first volume of À la recherche du temps perdu, titled Du côté de chez Swann (Swann's Way).

There is a medieval motte-and-bailey castle.^[5]

Geography

The commune is part of the area known as Suisse Normande.^[4]

The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, Les Gosselins, Les Soyers, Le Hamel, Le Bas de la Courrière and Combray.^[6]

The commune has 2 watercourses running through it The Pont de Combray stream and La Vallee des Vaux stream.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	122	—
1968	123	+0.8%
1975	95	−22.8%
1982	100	+5.3%
1990	98	−2.0%
1999	130	+32.7%
2008	130	+0.0%

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 9 August 2021.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ Combray sur le site de la communauté de communes Archived 2010-07-31 at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b "Map of Suiss Normande" (PDF).
^ Arcisse de Caumont, Statistika monumentalne Calvados
^ ^a ^b "Google Maps". Google Maps.